West Midlands Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Bits from Abroad

February 2017

US President, Donald Trump will propose offering to end sanctions imposed on Russia for its annexation of Crimea in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a rare move, China has publicly announced the deployment of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The Dong Feng (“East Wind”) -41 missile, or DF-41, can carry up to a dozen nuclear warheads and China claims it has the longest range of any nuclear missile in the world. The announcement of the missiles is likely a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump, who is known for sharply worded anti-Chinese rhetoric and has announced plans for a new ballistic missile system.

Iran has complied with a deadline set by its landmark nuclear deal with world powers by removing hundreds of centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, from a site buried deep inside a mountain, the U.N. atomic agency said . The deal reached between six powers and Iran in 2015 stated that no more enrichment would take place at the Fordow site near the holy city of Qom for 15 years, but that Iran could keep just over 1,000 centrifuges there for other uses. The announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be welcome news to many diplomats who are wondering how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, a vocal critic of the deal, would handle any problems that might arise.

Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli whistleblower who revealed his country’s secret nuclear weapons programme to the Sunday Times, has been convicted of violating the terms of his release and may be heading back to prison.